Written Answers Thursday 23 September 2010

Scottish Executive

Alcohol

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) offences have been recorded and (b) prosecutions there have been in the Lothians region for the (i) sale of alcohol to a person under 18, (ii) purchase of alcohol for consumption by a person under 18, (iii) purchase of alcohol or its consumption in a licensed premises by a person under 18 and (iv) confiscation of alcohol from a person under 18 in each year since 2007-08.

Kenny MacAskill: The available information is given in the following table:

  Number of Recorded Offences Related to Underage Alcohol Consumption1, in the Lothians2 Region, 2008-09 to 2009-10

  

Recorded offence 
2008-09
2009-10


Sale of drink to person under 181
97
50


Person under 18 buying excisable liquor or consuming in bar
5
7


Purchasing excisable liquor for consumption by person under 18
32
21


Confiscation of alcohol from person under 18
0
0


Total
134
78



  Source: Scottish Government Justice Analytical Services.

  Notes:

  1. Covers crime categories sale of drink to person under 18 and wholesaler selling liquor to person under 18, although no crimes of the latter have been recorded in the years reported.

  2. The Lothians region consists of the local authority areas of City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian and West Lothian.

  For data on the financial year 2007-08, I refer the member to questions S3W-26512 and S3W-26513 which were both answered on 7 September 2009. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at:

  http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

  In 2008-09, the latest year for which court proceedings data is available, there were 27 convictions for sale of alcohol to a person under 18. This covers the crime categories sale of drink to person under 18 and wholesaler selling liquor to person under 18, although no convictions of the latter have been recorded in the year reported. There were 15 convictions for purchasing alcohol for consumption by a person under 18.

  In 2008-09, there were no convictions in the Lothians region for purchase of alcohol or its consumption in a licensed premises by a person under 18 or confiscation of alcohol from a person under 18.

  Please note that prosecution is not the sole course taken in dealing with these offences. Where persons under 18 possess alcohol in a public place, the police have powers under section 61 of the Crime and Punishment (Scotland) Act 1997 to confiscate this alcohol and dispose of it. If the alcohol is surrendered to the police, it is not an offence and so is not included in the recorded crime statistics. It is, however, an offence to fail to comply, for example by failing to surrender the alcohol or by failing to give name and address if requested. During the years reported, for the Lothians region, there were no recorded instances of persons under 18 failing to comply with such a request.

  It should be noted that statistics dealing with court proceedings and recorded crime are not directly comparable as a person may be proceeded against for more than one crime involving more than one victim and there is the possibility that the crime recorded by the police may be altered in the course of judicial proceedings. Also a crime may be recorded by the police in one year and court proceedings concluded in a subsequent year.

Alcohol Misuse

Michael Matheson (Falkirk West) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost of alcohol abuse is to each NHS board.

Shona Robison: The total costs to healthcare services in Scotland of alcohol misuse was estimated by the York Health Economics Consortium, University of York, to be £268.8 million (mid-point) in 2007, however, this figure is not broken down by NHS board.

Allotments

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it had or has had, and with what public bodies, regarding the policy, legal and financial implications of increasing the number of allotments across Scotland in (a) December 2008, (b) 2009 and (c) 2010.

Richard Lochhead: Since 2008, the Scottish Government has actively engaged with COSLA to review the barriers that prevent local authorities enacting the Allotment (Scotland) Act 1892. The Scottish Government has also engaged with a number of other organisations including the Scottish Natural Heritage and Forestry Commission Scotland as well as other publically funded bodies such as Greenspace Scotland to explore increasing the amount of land available for growing spaces.

  The Scottish Government has also established a Grow Your Own working group whose members include the Scottish Allotment and Garden Society, Elmwood College, Soil Association, Landshare, Commonwealth Orchards, Greenbelt Group, Greenspace Scotland, National Farmers Union and Community Food and Health (Scotland) which has a remit to produce best practice guidance, to explore the opportunities to and constraints of opening land up to development of "grow-your-own" initiatives and to advise the Scottish Government on the most effective way to provide strategic support for allotments.

Biodiversity

Elaine Murray (Dumfries) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the (a) maximum and (b) minimum grant will be for applications from the biodiversity fund announced by the Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs and the Environment at the Scottish Biodiversity Forum Conference on 25 August 2010.

Roseanna Cunningham: The maximum grant is £10,000 and the minimum is £300.

Child Protection

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive when it last considered significant case reviews and whether the findings were published.

Adam Ingram: A review of significant case review (SCRs) is currently underway. A working group of key multi-agency professionals was established in November 2009 to consider the SCR process in the light of recent research and practice, and in the context of the current review of the national child protection guidance. The key aims are to make recommendations to help improve consistency and practice, and to help child protection committees   (CPCs) build confidence and capacity in undertaking SCRs.

  The group’s report was presented to the Scottish Government in July 2010 and is now in the public domain. The recommendations for action are currently being considered jointly by the Scottish Government and CPCs, and a response will be published later this autumn.

Child Protection

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the results of individual significant case reviews are published.

Adam Ingram: The key considerations and responsibilities for clearing and publishing the report of the significant case review (SCR) are outlined in the interim guidance for child protection committees (CPCs) for conducting SCRs published in March 2007. This is available on the Scottish Government website at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2007/03/30114400/0

  Further clarification on publication and dissemination was issued by the Scottish Government in October 2007.

  It is for Chief Officers to decide how to publish the SCR based on this guidance and individual circumstances. However, as set out in the guidance, the executive summary and recommendations from each SCR should be published and made publicly available to provide an overview and analysis of the case.

  Chief Officers should select from a range of dissemination options available to them, including the option of publication aimed at the general public, that best serves the public interest and the purpose of improving service delivery.

  The issues around publication and dissemination have been considered by the SCR working group, and are reflected in its report. The Scottish Government is considering how to take this work forward and will set out its plans later this autumn. Further detail can be found in the answer to question S3W-36024 on 23 September 2010.

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament's website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Child Protection

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive who is responsible for overseeing the outcome of significant case reviews to ensure that lessons are learned.

Adam Ingram: Ultimately, Chief Officers across Scotland are responsible for the leadership, direction and scrutiny of their respective child protection services. However, Child Protection Committees (CPCs) work on behalf of the Chief Officers in their area and their responsibilities include putting in place robust mechanisms for the identification, consideration and management of significant case reviews (SCRs). This includes the need for processes to be in place to promote good practice, maximise learning, respond to conclusions and disseminate the lessons learned. The Scottish Government has published guidance for CPCs which makes clear their role in the SCR process.

  HM Inspectorate of Education (HMIE) is currently undertaking its second round of inspections of services to protect children. Every local authority area in Scotland will be visited, and as part of the inspection process, HMIE look at all significant case reviews undertaken in the previous 12 months.

  The findings of SCRs and how services have responded to the conclusions and recommendations should be reflected in local improvement plans and formally considered as part of annual child protection reviews by CPCs. CPCs have responsibility for the development and implementation of inter-agency self-evaluation, quality assurance and continuous improvement mechanisms.

Child Protection

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how it ensures consistency in the quality of significant case reviews.

Adam Ingram: The aim of the current guidance Interim Guidance For Child Protection Committees (CPCs) for Conducting Significant Case Reviews published in March 2007 is to provide more clarity and consistency on what should be done and how best to act on lessons learned from a significant case review (SCR) both locally and across Scotland.

  The SCR Working Group outlined in the answer to question S3W-36024 on 23 September 2010 has looked specifically at the issue of consistency and quality assurance. The Scottish Government is considering how to take this work forward with CPCs and will set out its plans later this autumn.

  A national conference will be held in November 2010 for professionals to explore the conduct and use of SCRs. The key aims are to promote best practice and consistency of approach across Scotland. It is being jointly organised by the government funded Multi-Agency Resource Centre (MARS) and the Scottish Child Care and Protection Network (SCCPN), and independently funded Centre for Learning in Child Protection (CLiCP).

  All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Defence

George Foulkes (Lothians) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-23575 by Jim Mather on 20 May 2009, what response it has received to its request to the Working Group on Scotland Without Nuclear Weapons from HM Naval Base Clyde.

Bruce Crawford: The Working Group on Scotland Without Nuclear Weapons published its report in August 2009. The report can be accessed at:

  http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/People/swnw-working-group/Report.

Education

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-36019 by Michael Russell on 14 September 2010, whether consent is required from a local authority where parents opt to home-school their child from the outset.

Michael Russell: Parents do not require consent from a local authority to home educate their children. As explained in the previous response, consent is only required from a local authority if parents or carers wish to withdraw their child from a local authority school in the area in which they reside.

Education

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether HM Inspectorate of Education has a specific role in monitoring home-schooled children.

Michael Russell: HM Inspectorate of Education has no specific role in monitoring the education of individual children whether home educated or otherwise.

Education

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it will take to support opportunities for young people interested in pursuing music and the teachers who may lose their jobs as a result of proposals to reduce budgets for instrumental music tuition in Fife.

Michael Russell: The Scottish Government continues to fund the Youth Music Initiative, administered through Creative Scotland, which widens access to free music tuition in schools. Fife Council will receive £518,660 in 2010-11 as part of this initiative, the same level of annual funding it has received since 2005-06.

  We have launched an Education and Culture Action Plan which will help to enhance the place of the arts, culture and creativity within Curriculum for Excellence. As part of this, we are working with the Heads of Instrumental Teaching Scotland on a showcase event in November 2010 to demonstrate the importance of the instrumental music service for supporting the delivery of music education.

Education

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of proposals to reduce budgets for instrumental tuition in Fife, what investment it will make in music education in Fife to assist students’ success in higher and further education courses.

Michael Russell: The Scottish Government continues to fund the Youth Music Initiative, administered through Creative Scotland, which widens access to free music tuition in schools. Fife Council will receive £518,660 in 2010-11 as part of this initiative, the same level of annual funding it has received since 2005-06.

  We have launched an Education and Culture Action Plan which will help to enhance the place of the arts, culture and creativity within Curriculum for Excellence (CfE). CfE enables learners from three to 18 to develop the knowledge and skills needed for future learning, offering a breadth and depth of learning in the expressive arts, including active involvement in creative activities and performances.

  Funding for individual further and higher education institutions is a matter for the Scottish Funding Council, rather than Scottish Ministers.

Education

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of proposals to reduce budgets for instrumental music tuition in Fife, what action it will take to ensure that learning to play a musical instrument in Fife is available to pupils of all backgrounds.

Michael Russell: The Scottish Government continues to fund the Youth Music Initiative (YMI), administered through Creative Scotland, which widens access to free music tuition in schools. Fife Council will receive £518,660 in 2010-11 as part of this initiative, the same level of annual funding it has received since 2005-06.

  YMI also has funding streams available to wider organisations. Several organisations in Fife have received these funds, including a grant of approximately £5,000 for Kingdom Brass towards the cost of young people receiving weekly percussion tuition.

Education

Marilyn Livingstone (Kirkcaldy) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, in light of proposals to reduce budgets for instrumental music tuition in Fife, what investment it will make in music and culture in Fife.

Michael Russell: The Scottish Government supports the cultural sector through working with Creative Scotland and Scotland’s National Performing Companies. In addition, the Scottish Government provides funding for local cultural services through the local government finance settlement.

  Through the Youth Music Initiative, administered by Creative Scotland, we have provided Fife Council with £518,660 in 2010-11 to widen access to free music tuition in schools, the same level of annual funding it has received through the initiative since 2005-06.

Energy

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, given its conclusion that the Energy from Waste Potential in Scotland report showed that "heat-only plants could meet 6% of Scotland’s existing heat needs", what proportion of this 6% does it estimate will come from (a) thermal-only output from waste-streams identified as potentially suitable for combustion and (b) anaerobic digestion.

Richard Lochhead: The Energy from Waste Potential in Scotland report did not identify the heat potential split between combustion and anaerobic digestion processes and the Scottish Government does not hold this information.

Energy Efficiency

Jamie McGrigor (Highlands and Islands) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what action it is taking to encourage and promote the use of sheep’s wool as building insulation material.

John Swinney: The Scottish Government recognises the use of sheep’s wool as an insulation product. However, in the interest of fairness, Scottish building regulations do not promote specific products.

  We encourage innovative approaches to improving the energy performance of homes, which may include the use of sheep’s wool, through our £1.1 million Scottish Energy Efficiency Design Awards (EEDA) scheme. The winners of this year’s awards will be announced in due course.

  For more information about the awards, please see:

  http://www.energysavingtrust.org.uk/scotland/Scotland-Welcome-page/Business-and-Public-Sector-in-Scotland/Grants/Energy-Efficiency-Design-Awards.

Environment

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-35472 by Richard Lochhead on 11 August 2010, for what reason the part of St Margaret's Marsh Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) that was denotified in 2009 was originally designated as an SSSI.

Richard Lochhead: SSSI boundaries are defined using suitable features on the ground and it is not uncommon for marginal areas of SSSIs to contain small areas of habitat that are not an essential component of the site.

  In this case it was established that a section of the SSSI contained areas of scrub and rough grassland, which had little ecological or hydrological connectivity with the notified reedbed and saltmarsh habitats. Discussion between Scottish Natural Heritage and the landowner resulted in agreement for the establishment of a new boundary fence and the removal of 2.4 hectares from the SSSI.

Environment

Jim Tolson (Dunfermline West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-35472 by Richard Lochhead on 11 August 2010, what action has already been taken to attempt to improve the reedbed and saltmarsh habitats of St Margaret’s Marsh Site of Special Scientific Interest that is assessed as unfavourable.

Richard Lochhead: Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH) advises that it entered into a management agreement with the landowner in 2003 for the installation and operation of a sluice gate to seek to improve the condition of the reedbed and saltmarsh habitats of the SSSI. However, this has only been partially successful; SNH believes that additional measures are required as set out in the currently proposed management plan and that this plan represents the best means of securing the interests of the site in the long term.

Fisheries

Trish Godman (West Renfrewshire) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what recent discussions have taken place with representatives of the Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency and other interested parties anent the effective surveillance of UK and non-UK-registered fishing vessels in Scottish fishing grounds with a reduced number of fisheries protection vessels.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Fisheries Protection Agency (SFPA) was wound up on 31 March 2009. The functions and resources of SFPA were incorporated into Marine Scotland which was launched on 1 April 2009.

  In the last decade the increasing use of real time satellite surveillance has meant that Marine Scotland is able to use this information, along with conventional aerial surveillance, to determine where fishing vessels are. Although this information is of immense value it is still essential to have Marine Protection Vessels to maintain a credible deterrent to illegal incursions and provide an essential reaction capability to any issues detected using satellite or aircraft information. However, they are no longer the primary means of providing surveillance capability within the waters around Scotland. The changes in the sources, importance and use of the surveillance data led Marine Scotland to consider the fleet requirements for the future which would provide the most cost effective solutions.

  It was determined that aerial and satellite surveillance, along with risk based tasking and the adoption of new technology such as remote electronic monitoring using closed circuit television cameras and the use of electronic statutory returns (e-logbooks) will enable similar or improved levels of outputs from three Marine Protection Vessels (MPVs) to that previously provided by four.

Fisheries

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what measures it will put in place to control the North American crayfish population in the South of Scotland.

Richard Lochhead: The Invasive Non-Native Species Strategy for Great Britain provides a comprehensive policy framework to guide management response to invasive non-native species. This is based on the approach advocated by the Convention on Biological Diversity, which prioritises prevention. Once invasive non-native species are well established, complete eradication is rarely viable.

  Whilst the Scottish Government will continue to seek to prevent the spread of North American crayfish in Scotland, it has no current plans for central government action to eradicate established populations. The Minister for Environment will shortly be meeting representatives from Dumfries and Galloway Council and other local interests to discuss the situation in Loch Ken with regard to North American Signal Crayfish.

Foster Care

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what the scale is of private fostering of children.

Adam Ingram: During the 2008-09 inspection period, the Care Commission found that there were 16 known private foster arrangements across Scotland. This number is likely to understate the true number of children in private fostering arrangements.

  The Care Commission report Private Fostering – the unknown arrangement? makes a number of recommendations which are intended to raise awareness of what private fostering covers and the duty on parents and carers to notify local authorities. The Scottish Government and local authorities are now taking these recommendations forward.

Foster Care

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what duties are placed on those engaged in private fostering to register with a local authority.

Adam Ingram: There is no requirement to register with a local authority. Both parents and proposed carers have a duty to notify private fostering arrangements to the local authority in which the child will be living at least two weeks before the child is placed. In an emergency, where this is not possible, the local authority should be notified of the placement within one week of the placement.

  These duties and the information to be provided to the local authority are set out in The Foster Children (Scotland) Act 1984 and The Foster Children (Private Fostering) (Scotland) Regulations 1985.

Foster Care

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what monitoring arrangements are in place for children who are privately fostered.

Adam Ingram: When a local authority is notified of a private fostering arrangement there are a number of duties which must be undertaken (a) prior to the placement, to determine whether it is appropriate for the child’s needs and (b), afterwards, to supervise the child’s welfare. These duties are set out in full in the Foster Children (Scotland) Act 1984 and the Foster Children (Private Fostering) (Scotland) Regulations 1985.

  Under the Regulation of Care (Scotland) Act 2001, the Care Commission has a duty to inspect how the local authority meet their obligations and responsibilities with regard to private fostering in their area.

General Practitioners

Maureen Watt (North East Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it considers that the current GP out-of-hours service offers value-for-money for the taxpayer and best meets the needs of the patient.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHS boards have the primary responsibility for procuring a safe and sustainable delivery of out-of-hours services for their area and are expected to do so in a way that meets the needs of the communities they support in as cost effective a way as possible.

Health

Angela Constance (Livingston) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive what improvements have been made in health services in West Lothian since 2007.

Nicola Sturgeon: There have been a number of positive developments in health services for the area.

  A prime example is St. John’s Hospital which has gone from strength to strength in recent years. There has been considerable investment in the hospital, such as a state of the art endoscopy facility which cost approximately £3.1 million and a new £8.2 million short stay elective surgery centre treating an extra 3,000 patients a year.

  St John’s is now a vibrant and busy hospital, we only have to look at increases in activity to see that, in the case of outpatients by 43.5% since 2005-06.

  Those are all signs of the commitment that the Scottish Government gave to the future of St John's as an acute hospital in Lothian.

Health

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many children have had treatment under the school-based dental service since 2007, broken down by NHS board and expressed as a percentage of eligible children.

Shona Robison: The Childsmile School programme provides twice-yearly fluoride varnish (FV) applications as a preventive treatment for children who are identified as living in the areas of highest need. Tables 1, 2 and 3 show, by NHS board of delivery and by school year, the number of children who received at least one fluoride varnish application, expressed also as a percentage of the number of eligible children.

  The Childsmile School programme is at various stages of implementation in all 14 NHS board areas. Three NHS boards; Dumfries and Galloway, Orkney and Western Isles are implementing in school year 2010 -11; no data available currently.

  Table 1: Number of Children in P1 and P2 Treated Under the Childsmile School Programme in School Year 2007-08

  

NHS Board of Delivery
Number of Children who Received Treatment
Proportion of Eligible Children who Received Treatment


Ayrshire and Arran
81
5.55%


Borders
187
40.67%


Fife
924
62.42%


Tayside
636
40.88%



  Table 2: Number of Children in P1 and P2 Treated Under the Childsmile School Programme in School Year 2008-09

  

NHS Board of Delivery
Number of Children who Received Treatment
Proportion of Eligible Children who Received Treatment


Ayrshire and Arran
396
26.88%


Borders
448
99.69%


Fife
1395
93.88%


Forth Valley
500
41.40%


Highland
60
4.92%


Lothian
1353
44.87%


Shetland
77
78.09%


Tayside
2077
133.47%



  Table 3: Number of Children in P1 and P2 Treated Under the Childsmile School Programme in School Year 2009-10

  

NHS Board of Delivery
Number of Children who Received Treatment
Proportion of Eligible Children who Received Treatment


Ayrshire and Arran
834
55.22%


Borders
495
107.75%


Fife
1549
100.77%


Forth Valley
604
48.42%


Grampian*
418
19.76%


Greater Glasgow and Clyde*
1714
38.29%


Highland
904
71.76%


Lanarkshire*
173
6.05%


Lothian
2578
83.74%


Shetland
286
279.30%


Tayside
1935
122.14%



  *These NHS boards implemented Childsmile School in school year 2009-10.

  Source: Childsmile Programme.

Health

Nanette Milne (North East Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many health and fitness checks have been carried out on those of 40 years of age delivered through GP surgeries or local health centres, broken down by NHS board.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Scottish Government has developed a programme of web based health checks for people when they reach 40 in association with NHS 24. The "Life Begins at 40" pilot service was launched in Grampian in May 2010. To the first week in September, 212 people have accessed the system.

  Keep Well currently delivers inequalities targeted health checks to individuals in the most deprived communities across Scotland. These are targeted at those aged  45 to 64 and individuals outwith this age range may also receive a check if they are considered to be particularly vulnerable or "at risk." Around 85,000 checks have been undertaken around Scotland. A record of those checked at 40 years of age is not maintained.

  Pilots to introduce universal health checks for all Scots aged 40 to 74 are due to begin in 2011.

Higher Education

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what the estimated cost is incurred by each individual drop-out from an (a) undergraduate degree, (b) HNC and (c) HND course.

Michael Russell: This is a matter for individual colleges and higher education institutions in Scotland. The information requested is not held centrally.

  The cost associated with each individual drop-out from particular courses would depend on a number of factors including: the individual’s personal circumstances, the funding applied to each individual course, the level of resourcing applied to teaching each individual course at each institution and the level of funding and resourcing that had been applied by the point at which each individual drops out of the course.

Higher Education Funding

Margaret Smith (Edinburgh West) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much was invested in higher education places at (a) higher national, (b) undergraduate and (c) postgraduate level in each of the last five years and what the year-on-year change was in real terms in each year.

Michael Russell: This is a matter for individual colleges and higher education institutions in Scotland. The information requested is not held centrally.

  While the Scottish government grants funding for a proportion of higher education activity at Scottish institutions, through funds administered by the Scottish Funding Council, it is the responsibility of each institution to decide how to allocate the funding they have been awarded.

  Information on the amount of funds administered to institutions through the Scottish Funding Council can be found on the Scottish Funding Council website at:

  http://www.sfc.ac.uk/news_events_circulars/funding_announcements/FundingAnnouncements.aspx.

Infertility Services

Jackie Baillie (Dumbarton) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what its response is to the interim report from the Infertility Network Scotland.

Shona Robison: The National Infertility Group has been asked to look at the issues raised in the interim report from Infertility Network Scotland. The group will deliver its first report to ministers by the end of 2010.

Justice

Gavin Brown (Lothians) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive how many people were convicted for an offence with a domestic aggravator in 2009-10, broken down by police force area.

Kenny MacAskill: Information on court proceedings for 2009-10 is due to published in January 2011.

  I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-34679 on 9 July 2010 for data up to 2008-09. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament’s website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

NHS Staff

Derek Brownlee (South of Scotland) (Con): To ask the Scottish Executive what the rate of absence due to sickness was in days lost per full-time equivalent employee in each NHS board in the last year.

Nicola Sturgeon: NHSScotland does not gather data on the numbers of days lost due to sickness absence, but does monitor the number of hours lost, as this is a more accurate measure of the impact of sickness absence on the service.

  For the period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010, NHSScotland had an absence rate for the year of 4.75% of the total available contracted hours.

  This rate represents a 0.2% reduction in sickness absence over the 2008-09 rate of 5.95% and a 0.8% reduction compared with the 2006-07 rate of 5.55%.

  Percentage rates for each NHS board are published yearly by the Information Services Division (ISD). Further information on sickness absence rates in NHSScotland can be found at the ISD website.

NHS Staff

Ms Wendy Alexander (Paisley North) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive how many NHS employees are paid (a) £100,000 to £150,000, (b) £150,001 to £200,000 and (c) more than £200,000.

Nicola Sturgeon: Individual salary information for NHS staff is not held centrally. However, tables showing the numbers of staff earning £50,000 and over (in bands of £10,000) is available from NHS boards’ annual accounts which are published on NHS boards’ individual websites. The respective websites are listed at:

  http://www.show.scot.nhs.uk/.

NHS Staff

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it regards the current plan for reductions of 1,523 nursing, 68 doctor and 230 allied health professional posts as sufficient for any or all NHS boards to require to implement the Partnership Information Network (PIN) Redeployment guideline for boards to have a substantive post dealing specifically with redeployment rather than a designated redeployment co-ordinator.

Nicola Sturgeon: Scottish Ministers have made clear their expectation that NHS boards will work towards compliance with Partnership Information Network (PIN) policies. All NHS boards have a designated redeployment co-ordinator as specified in the Redeployment PIN guideline. It is for individual boards to consider at what stage it would be appropriate to make an explicit redeployment co-ordinator appointment in response to any predicted substantial period of change.

NHS Staff

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what reports it has received in the last 12 months from any part of the NHS that have evaluated success in redeployment measured as (a) turnover post-redeployment compared with pre-redeployment and (b) number of staff successfully redeployed.

Nicola Sturgeon: The redeployment of staff forms part of individual NHS boards’ workforce management arrangements. NHS boards are responsible locally for monitoring the effectiveness of those arrangements, including redeployment. As set out in the Redeployment Partnership Information Network guideline, the monitoring arrangements may include the evaluation of pre- and post-redeployment turnover and the number of staff successfully redeployed.

  The Scottish Government has not carried out any national evaluation of the effectiveness of NHS boards’ redeployment processes. However, local redeployment issues are, where necessary, considered in partnership with staff side representatives. In addition, it will be open to the national scrutiny group to consider whether any wider issues are raised by the operation of redeployment processes.

NHS Staff

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive what analysis it has made of the use by NHS boards of returns of Redeployment Assessment Forms as outlined in Appendix 3.2 of the Partnership Information Network (PIN) guideline on redeployment.

Nicola Sturgeon: The redeployment of staff forms part of individual NHS boards’ workforce management arrangements. NHS boards are responsible locally for monitoring the effectiveness of those arrangements, including redeployment. As set out in the Redeployment Partnership Information Network (PIN) guideline, the monitoring arrangements may include analysis of the redeployment assessment forms that are outlined in Appendix 3.2 of the Redeployment PIN.

  The Scottish Government has not carried out any national evaluation of the effectiveness of NHS boards’ redeployment processes. However, local redeployment issues are, where necessary, considered in partnership with staff side representatives. In addition, it will be open to the national scrutiny group to consider whether any wider issues are raised by the operation of redeployment processes.

NHS Staff

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-34309 by Nicola Sturgeon on 21 June 2010, whether as part of its review of the appendix 3.1 Model freedom of speech in the Partnership Information Network (PIN) guideline, Dealing with employee concerns, the revised model will ensure that concerns that employees may have, and that are not being responded to by management, about (a) reductions in posts being inappropriate, (b) vacancy management creating undue stress on other team members, (c) voluntary redundancies resulting in the loss of staff key to service delivery or (d) any other changes that they consider might harm patient care can be conveyed to their MSP or MP as a matter of right.

Nicola Sturgeon: The Dealing with Employee Concerns Partnership Information Network (PIN) guideline, which contains the model freedom of speech policy, is currently under review. As part of this process, the review group will consider and include the provisions of the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) which gives workers automatic protection for raising a matter internally and the right to make disclosures to prescribed regulators.

  The review group, consisting of representatives from employers and trade unions, will consider all aspects of PIDA, including current provision for disclosures to MPs and MSPs in certain circumstances. The revised PIN will be published in early 2011.

Nutrition

Dr Richard Simpson (Mid Scotland and Fife) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-15371 by Adam Ingram on 27 August 2008, for what reason it did not provide the necessary matched funding to allow it to take up the European Commission grant for the provision of free fruit and vegetable scheme.

Adam Ingram: There was no need for the Scottish Government to provide match funding in order to participate in the EU school fruit scheme. The regulations associated with the EU scheme allow Scotland to claim up to 100% of eligible costs of an extension, up to the value of 50% of the overall scheme value for each participating local authority, in lieu of the fact that Scotland already funds a free school fruit scheme.

  However, despite being successful in our bid for EU funding, Scotland is unable to gain any real benefit from participation in the scheme due to UK Treasury rules requiring 72p in every pound claimed from the EU under this scheme to be immediately repaid to the UK Treasury.

Police

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive when the Scottish Policing Board will complete its work exploring police force structural reform options.

Kenny MacAskill: Information presented to the Scottish Policing Board on 13 September 2010 showed that efficiency savings alone are unlikely to be sufficient to meet the scale of financial challenges beyond 2012-13. The board decided that further work should be done to explore options for releasing additional cost savings, and initial findings reported to the next meeting of the Scottish Policing Board on 6 December 2010. At that stage, the board will consider whether further work is required.

Police

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what bodies the Scottish Policing Board will consult in its work exploring police force structural reform options.

Kenny MacAskill: Work to explore options for releasing further savings in policing will be taken forward by a sub group of the Scottish Policing Board involving the Scottish Government, COSLA, Police Authority Conveners, Chief Constables and staff associations. The sub group will consider what other bodies it may need to consult in taking forward its work.

Police

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it will seek a debate in the Parliament on the outcomes of the work of the Scottish Policing Board exploring police force structural reform.

Kenny MacAskill: If and when the Scottish Government has any proposals in relation to police structures it will of course inform the Parliament.

Police

Robert Brown (Glasgow) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how much it would cost to merge police forces into (a) three forces or (b) a single force.

Kenny MacAskill: Work to explore options for releasing additional savings in policing is at an early stage, and initial findings will be reported to the Scottish Policing Board on 6 December.

Police

Hugh O'Donnell (Central Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what funding it has provided to the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) under the heading of equalities in each of the last three years and how this was used.

Kenny MacAskill: Scottish ministers pay an annual grant to the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland (ACPOS) in recognition of its role in promoting efficiency and effectiveness within the police service in Scotland and in co-ordinating of police policy matters at a national level. These policy matters are progressed by distinct ACPOS business areas, including one dedicated to equality and diversity so that the police respect and are responsive to the needs of all communities in Scotland.

Procurement

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many times it discussed local food procurement with local authorities in 2009.

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive with which local authorities it discussed local food procurement in 2009.

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive with which NHS boards it discussed local food procurement in 2009.

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive with what bodies it discussed local food procurement in 2009.

Richard Lochhead: Sustainable public sector procurement of food and drink has been discussed with a wide range of Local Authorities on 7 occasions in 2009 as well as a wide range of NHS boards and other bodies. These are summarised in the report Walking the Talk - Getting Government Right - Procurement of Food by Public Sector http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Publications/2009/11/12111724/0 .

Procurement

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive how many times it has discussed local food procurement with local authorities in 2010.

Richard Lochhead: Local authorities have been involved in discussions on sustainable public sector food and drink procurement with a representative of the Food and Drink Industry Division of the Scottish Government, on eight occasions in 2010. A further three meetings are pending.

Procurement

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive with which local authorities it has discussed local food procurement in 2010.

Richard Lochhead: Discussions on sustainable public sector food and drink procurement have been undertaken with the following local authorities in 2010:

  Tayside Contracts (as the Catering and Procurement provider for Perth and Kinross), City of Dundee and Angus Councils, Glasgow City Council (Cordia LLP), Scotland Excel (as the procurement organisation for food and drink for Scotland’s local authorities), Falkirk Council, Aberdeenshire Council and South Lanarkshire Council.

  Discussions have also been held at the ASSIST conference attended by senior officers responsible for catering in Scotland’s 32 local authorities and at the Association of Public Service Excellence (APSE; the organisation that represents managers in Scotland’s local authorities).

Procurement

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive with which NHS boards it has discussed local food procurement in 2010.

Richard Lochhead: Meetings have been held on sustainable public sector food and drink procurement with NHS National Procurement.

  In addition, in August, sustainable public sector food and drink procurement was discussed at the NHS Commodity Advisory Panel involving the following Health Boards:

  Ayrshire and Arran, Borders, Dumfries and Galloway, Fife, Forth Valley, Greater Glasgow and Clyde, Grampian, Highland, Lanarkshire, Lothian and Tayside.

Procurement

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive with what bodies it has discussed local food procurement in 2010.

Richard Lochhead: Discussions on sustainable public sector food and drink procurement have been held with a wide range of bodies during 2010, including:

  APUC, Scotland Excel, Public Procurement Reform Board, European Commission, COSLA, NHS National Procurement, NHS Facilities Scotland, NHS Public Health and Well being, NFUS, Food Standards Agency Scotland, SAOS, Scotland Food and Drink, Scottish Food and Drink Federation, Sodexo, Brakes Foodservice, Campbell’s Meat, 2014 Commonwealth Games Business Gateway, QMS, Scottish Enterprise and the Cross Party Group on Food.

Renewable Energy

Peter Peacock (Highlands and Islands) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it plans to incentivise individuals to invest in non fossil fuel dependent heating systems.

Jim Mather: The Scottish Government has already supported over 4,600 individuals to invest in non fossil fuel dependent heating systems through its Energy Saving Scotland home renewables grant scheme. Demand for this hugely successful scheme has been such, that all funding has now been fully allocated.

  Furthermore, we are committed to helping to secure at least a fair share of the UK Government’s Clean Energy Cashback schemes, the Feed-In Tariff and the forthcoming Renewable Heat Incentive, for Scotland.

Renewable Energy

Ross Finnie (West of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive whether the environmental effects outwith Scotland of a proposed development could be a material consideration in determining an application for development consent and what the reason is for its position on this matter.

Jim Mather: The determination of Section 36 applications is not easy or straight forward and ministers must strike the right balance in their decision making between developing and delivering Scotland’s energy future and the protection of environmental, cultural heritage, economic and community issues. Likewise, environmental effects outwith Scotland can also be a material consideration, although it would of course depend on the individual circumstances of an application.

  In a situation where an EIA development in Scotland appears to the Scottish Ministers to be likely to have significant effects on the environment in another European state, there is a requirement to send the EEA state in question certain information in relation to the EIA. The requirement to give that information also exists where the other state requests it and both are set out at regulation 12 of the Electricity Works (Environmental Impact Assessment) (Scotland) Regulations 2000.

Renewable Energy

Lewis Macdonald (Aberdeen Central) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive, further to the answer to question S3W-35792 by Richard Lochhead on 9 September 2010, what external body will be responsible for carrying out a strategic review of Scottish grid infrastructure for marine energy to identify longer term grid infrastructure upgrades on the basis of expected development locations.

Jim Mather: We do not envisage any external body taking on this important role for Scotland. However, our Second National Planning Framework highlights a suite of energy infrastructure and grid development projects across Scotland that we have identified as projects of national priority in helping deliver sustainable economic growth, tackle climate change, and enable Scotland to move towards a low carbon economy.

  The Scottish Government also has regular, detailed and ongoing engagement with Ofgem, National Grid, renewable energy developers, Scottish transmission system operators, DECC and the European Union, on strategic grid infrastructure development and reinforcement across Scotland. This includes working in the Electricity Networks Strategy Group, which has set out the strategic onshore and offshore grid development for Scotland that will support connection of up to 11.4 GW of renewable energy by 2020.

Scottish Enterprise

John Wilson (Central Scotland) (SNP): To ask the Scottish Executive who authorised the former Chief Executive of Scottish Enterprise to accept a non-executive directorship with Robert Wiseman Dairies and what consideration was given to the lieu of notice payment.

Jim Mather: The former Chief Executive’s employment contract contained provisions requiring him to obtain written consent from Scottish Enterprise if, within 12 months of the date of termination of his employment, he wished to become engaged, interested or concerned in any business which is or was contractually connected with Scottish Enterprise. Mr Perry sought and obtained consent from Scottish Enterprise to take up appointment as a non-executive director of Robert Wiseman Diaries PLC. The granting of such consent was an operational matter for Scottish Enterprise.

  With regard to the payment that the former Chief Executive received in lieu of notice, I refer the member to the answer to question S3W-35914 on 21 September 2010. All answers to written parliamentary questions are available on the Parliament website, the search facility for which can be found at http://www.scottish.parliament.uk/Apps2/Business/PQA/Default.aspx.

Teachers

Paul Martin (Glasgow Springburn) (Lab): To ask the Scottish Executive whether it expects the forthcoming teacher numbers statistics to show an increase or decrease in teacher employment and for what reasons.

Michael Russell: Teacher employment is a matter for local authorities. The 2010 teacher census is being conducted today and the results will be published in December. I expect that, given the financial pressures on local authorities and the over supply mistakes of the previous administration that the numbers will continue on a downward trend.

Waste Management

Jim Hume (South of Scotland) (LD): To ask the Scottish Executive what discussions it has had with representatives of South Lanarkshire Council and Scotgen (South Lanarkshire) Ltd regarding the proposed energy-from-waste incinerator plant on Dovesdale Farm, Stonehouse.

Richard Lochhead: The Scottish Government has had no discussions with representatives of South Lanarkshire Council or with Scotgen regarding the proposed energy-from-waste plant at Dovesdale Farm.